Adult Protective Services

ADULT PROTECTIVE SERVICES ADVISORY COUNCIL MINUTES Wednesday June 10, 2009 Herman M. Holloway Sr. Campus-Lewis Building Conference Room 258

I. Call to Order: Pamela Williams - APS Administrator

II. Members present:

Pamela A. Williams – Administrator, Adult Protective Services Lisa Zimmerman –Chief of Operations, Division of Medicaid & Medical Assistance Janice Pulkowski – DSAAPD, APS SSW/CM William Dunne – Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. Harris Taylor – Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Sequaya Tasker – DDDS/ Regional Program Director Anthony Frabizzio ESQ. – Heckler & Frabizzio

III. Excused absent:

Walter Donaldson – Director of Investigations, Bank of America Stefanie Donovan – Office of the Public Guardian Yvonne (Eve) Davis – Wilmington Dept. of Licenses & Inspections Linda Brittingham – Christiana Care Health Services Katie McMillan – Chairperson Ben Inloes – Bay Health Medical Center Marki B. Mosley – New Castle County Police Department Marian Kenville-Moore – Dept. of Justice Mary Ann Connell – Chief of Operations Administrator; DSAAPD

IV. Minutes from last meeting:

Pamela Williams opened the APS Advisory Council meeting and welcomed everyone. Ms. Williams presented a motion to accept the March 11, 2009 minutes and asked Council members for any changes. Ms.Williams approved the minutes and Lisa Zimmerman seconded.

V. Old Business:

Harris Taylor gave an update regarding the case presentation, (neglect by caregiver,) presented at the March 2009 Council meeting by SSW/CM, Janice Pulkowski. This was a referral of an adopted special needs child, originally from the Philippines brought to the United States. Mr. Taylor stated the client is currently staying at Dover Behavioral Health; however, the client will soon be going with Connections Services. Connections Services is one of DSAMH funded contractors. Connections has a grant, which will help fund housing for the client to reside. DDDS will be funding support services in the house for 24 hour staffing and a full-time interpreter for the client.

VI. New Business:

1. APS Vacancies:

Cabinet Secretary, Rita Landgraf approved the critical hire request for 3 APS SSW/CM’S positions. The posting was open for a week and we have received nearly 100 applicants for NCC and approximately 70 for Kent/Sussex County.

2. Safety Training:

Ms. Williams stated the objective of safety training is to have the SSW/CM’S learn defensive techniques if SSW/CM’S would be approached or attacked in a harmful way by a client or family member. APS has approached the Police Department to help put together a Safety Training.

The Attorney General’s Office, (Beau Biden) put together a Senior Protection Team. Attorney General Biden has appointed a veteran prosecutor, Marsha White to head up an Elder Abuse Unit which would focus on prosecuting all elder abuse cases. Marsha White is the head prosecutor and the prosecutor of NCC. There is also a designated prosecutor for Kent and Sussex counties.

3. Senior Protection Training:

Ms. Williams informed the Council that a Multi-Disciplinary Team was assigned to address the issue of elder abuse, or better titled, Senior Protection Multi- Disciplinary Team. Pamela Williams, APS Administrator; Gary Tabor, NCC DOJ; and Lester Johnson, Kent and Sussex counties DOJ are part of this team. Ms. Williams informed Council part of Attorney General Bidens Task Force is to put together training for Law Enforcement and other First Responders. Ms. Williams informed the Council that a Senior Protection Training was held April 1st and April 2nd at the New Castle Police Dept. Bldg. and a second training was held June 3rd and June 4th at Harrington Fire Dept., sponsored by Harrington Law Enforcement. In the future, a Senior Protection Training is planned for the lower Sussex County.

The Senior Protection Training was presented by Lester Johnson who works for the Attorney General’s Office and with Pamela Williams, APS Administrator, DHSS.

4. Meeting with Prosecutor and APS staff:

Prosecutor Marsha White came to the APS office to meet and inform the APS Staff what her expectations were when APS presented a case to the prosecutor for court processing. Marsha White also wrote an article to the Editor of the News Journal which appeared in June 10, 2009 issue, regarding the Elder Abuse Unit.

5. WEAD activities:

WEAD (World Elder Abuse Awareness Day) is every June 15. A day which States and Countries recognize Elder Abuse Awareness Day. There is also a web site (WWW.inpea.net) which will show what States and Countries are doing for recognition on Elder Abuse Awareness Day. All activities will bring to the Day a global relevance that will sustain and move abuse awareness forward throughout the day, the year and years to come. It will involve national and international activities developed by countries, communities, neighborhoods and organizations collaborating in multigenerational initiatives that span information technology, cultural and art events, volunteer and educational programs aiming to create an awareness of elder abuse and its consequences.

For the last 2 years, the Office of the Governor has presented a proclamation statement in observance of Delaware Elder Abuse Awareness Day. Ms. Williams distributed a flyer to the Council, which tells what Elder Abuse Day represents. Movie theatres will be showing a 15 second announcement on Elder Abuse Awareness before each movie. In observance of Elder Abuse Awareness Day there are 15 movie theatres within Delaware between May 22nd and June 18th who will be participating. The National Center on Elder Abuse in participation will be distributing coupons to use at Grotto’s Pizza. These coupons can only be used Monday June15th in observance of Elder Abuse Awareness Day.

Ms. Williams presented the picture of the Billboard Campaign going up this week. There are a total of 12 Billboards. The Billboards will be up for 4 weeks.

VII. Roundtable:

Lisa Zimmerman Chief of Operations, Division of Medicaid & Medical Assistance informed the Council there has been a decrease from 10 pre- admission screening social workers in May, to 5 in June. In an endeavor to meet the responsibility of referrals for the upcoming months, there has been a decision to divide the State into zones for the pre-admission screening social workers. Referrals will be assigned to each SSW/CM based on their designated state zones. In order to monitor effectively, a central intake unit was just opened. Ms. Zimmerman also stated there has been a revision to shorten the pre-admission screening physical assessment. The pre-admission screening physical assessment will meet the needed regulations requirements.

Sequaya Tasker DDDS, Regional Program Director stated her staff has decreased by 3 case managers. Ms. Tasker informed the Council a Web Base instant report system has been initiated and DDDS is considering additional web bases to have better efficiency. There also has been an increase of family members asking to have their family member removed from DDDS services so clients can go home. Ms. Tasker stated when DDDS goes to the home on a post- op field visit for a security check; there are findings that the families are not really equipped for the client to stay in the home.

Janice Pulkowski SSW/CM stated that recently there has been a need for interpreters that speak Creole and Oriental. Anthony Frabizzio suggested that the Department of Labor may have a source to assist in finding an interpreter. Ms. Williams informed the Council of a system called Interpretype. Using Interpretype one language can be translated into another.

VIII. Adjournment: Next APS Advisory Council Meeting Wednesday, September 9, 2009; 12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Herman M. Holloway Sr. Campus, Lewis Bldg. Room 258